ASIR — Faisalabad won by 3 runs against Hanco CC and Lahore Badshah defeated Nokia C.C by 8 wickets in the semifinal matches of 1st STRAC T20 Championship 2018, organized by Aseer Cricket League (ACL).

Faisalabad King made a respectable total of 191-5 in allotted 20 overs. Opener Zaigham Abbas (24), skipper Nabeel Usman (59), Saleem Ahmed (39), Sher Nawaz (16), Raja Imran Khan (16), Qaiser Abbas (12) and Baber Hussain (13 not out) batted well. Abuzar Sagheer and Inam Ullah grabbed 2 wickets each for 23 and 29 runs respectively.

In reply Hanco Cricket Club scored 188-8. Shahbaz Khan hit a spectacular 90 off 49 balls will the help of 2 sixes and 12 boundaries. Muhammad Nadeem (30), Saqib Sohail (14), Inam Ullah (12), Tahir Rasheed (15) and skipper Farasat Ullah Shoaib (7 not out) tried to achieve the target but fell short by 3 runs. Abdul Basit bagged 3-43. Nabeel Usman (Faisalabad King) was declared man of the match.

In the other semis, Nokia Lions started badly losing opener Muhammad Zain Anwar, Zaka ullah and Bilal Ahmed cheaply. But then hurricane hitting by Mobeen Hassan Noor Hassan (61 off 34 balls — 4 sixes and 6 fours) and delightful 43 by skipper Malik Ajaz Hussain Muhammad took them to 146 runs in 18.5 overs. Saqlain Asghar took 4 wickets in 3.5 overs including a hat-trick for 30 runs. Ziauddin Muhammad also took 4 for 25.

Lahore Badshah won in 14.4 overs losing 2 wickets. Rashid Abbasi scored 69 off 43 and Nadeem Malik scored 33 runs off 31 balls to lead Lahore Badshah to a comfortable victory. Asghar (Lahore Badshah) was declared man of the match.